Saturday, December 01, 2012

Wolverines 1, Inbreds 0

The endangered wolverine has won this particular battle, if not the war. Montana is the only state besides Alaska that allows trapping of wolverines. The trapping season was scheduled to start this weekend, but yesterday District Judge Jeffrey Sherlock issued a restraining order which had been sought by conservation groups.The issue will be discussed at a hearing in January, and the trapping season goes until mid-February, so we’ll see…Climate change is a threat to the wolverine’s long-term survival prospects, since wolverines live mostly in snow-covered areas at high elevations. And in the short term, there are only about 250 to 300 wolverines remaining in the Lower 48. Let the mouth-breathers trap something else — preferably each other.One of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit had said:“We think there are enough other threats that wolverines are facing, with climate change and habitat loss, that trapping is not another one that needs to be piled on top of them.”Fortunately Judge Sherlock agreed.A member of the Montana Trappers Association disagreed with the ruling:“If somebody can trap a wolverine and sell a wolverine pelt for $500, and they can make a house payment with that money or pay groceries with that money, that comes down to subsistence.”Get a job Cletus.Wolverines are small, but no other animal — not even a grizzly bear — will tangle with one. The only thing they have to fear is an inbred with a steel trap.I saw a stuffed wolverine at a museum a long time ago. Even stuffed and displayed behind the glass, it looked fierce. Axel, the wolverine from the Fusco Brothers, is presumably not an accurate portrayal.